Keep abreast of the legal consequences of the digital revolution sweeping the World, says CJI Dipak Misra

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra called upon the law graduates to keep abreast of the legal consequences of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)’, the digital revolution sweeping the World. Delivering the Fourth Convocation address of National Law University of Odisha (NLUO) here, the CJI said a lawyer should not only be adept in the traditional practice and procedures of law, but must keep up-to-date with the new and specialised fields of law.

Referring to the wide acceptance of digital modes of payments in the country now, he said the footprint of technology is expanding and virtually redefining our working and lifestyles. “You all are going to enter the manifold streams wherelaw is needed, when the country is rapidly pushing digitisation in almost every walk of life”, the CJI said.

He was addressing the students in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Justice Amitav Roy of the Supreme Court, Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran, who is also the Chancellor of the University and the vice chancellor of the University Srikrishna Deva Rao.

On the recent debate of allowing foreign law firms to enter the Indian market, the CJI told the law graduates that their role would become increasingly important and indispensable. “With your calibre, you would stand firm guarding the interest of Indian lawyers and ensure that you can offer equally competitive legal services to Indian as well as foreign parties,” he said.

“If there is indeed one profession which contributed the most in the fight for Independence and played the most significant part in bringing about national awakening and political consciousness, it has been the profession of law,” he said. Justice Misra said students must be pondering today which field of law (litigation, corporate or teaching) is more lucrative, and which direction would lead them to success.

“Do not think of lucrative in mere terms of material gain, and do not restrict your mind to think of success as a status symbol. The first step is to recognise where your passion lies. “Do a soul search and decide where you can give your best in terms of betterment of the society and downtrodden–only that should be your path and destination! That should be your fundamental aim of a lawyer,” he said.

Justice Misra said learning is a continuous process and it should not end on the graduation day. He quoted educational reformer and philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy, “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”

A total of 145 students were conferred with the degrees, out of which 114 received dual degrees of BA LLB and BBA LLB, 30 received LLM degrees and one scholar was awarded with PhD.